12 Health Benefits Of Taking Vitamins While You Are Breastfeeding

Are you a breastfeeding mom, or are you going to be one soon? Are you worried that you and your baby may not be getting a healthy dose of essential vitamins? Have you thought about increasing your vitamin intake but are not sure which supplements you need to take and how they will help you?

If you can relate to any of these questions, consider reading our post. Here, we look at all the must to take essential vitamins while breastfeeding.

Benefits Of Taking Vitamins During Breastfeeding:

There are many benefits of taking vitamins while you are nursing your baby. Various water-soluble vitamins, such as B-complex vitamins and vitamin C boost your breast milk production and ensure that your baby gets enough nutrients. The prenatal vitamins that you took during pregnancy are not the same as when you are breastfeeding. Let your doctor review your vitamin supplements and decide which ones should you continue taking (1).

Does Taking Vitamins While Breastfeeding Help Your Infant?

While you are breastfeeding your baby, your little one will receive almost all her nutritional reserves from you. Hence, it is even more important that you take care of your vitamin needs. Also, as most of the nutrition directly comes from you, your baby is mostly safe against any deficiency. One deficiency that your baby may still suffer from is vitamin D deficiency.

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Health Benefits And Common Food Sources Of Various Vitamins:

While you are breastfeeding, it is important that you speak to your doctor to know what you can and cannot have, as well as the dosage. Here are a few best vitamins for breastfeeding moms, but we recommend you check on them with your doctor before starting:

1. Vitamin B1 Or Thiamine:

Vitamin B1 or thiamine converts the food that you eat into energy (2).

It helps your heart to perform the way it should and helps to metabolize the carbohydrate that helps produce energy.

Thiamine is also important for the health of your brain and your nervous system.

It also keeps your cardiovascular system in good health.

Vitamin B1 can help ease stress and anxiety. It also helps prevent memory loss, both partial and long-term.

It helps prevent diarrhea and other digestive problems, to improve your immunity as well as your appetite. B1 vitamin for breastfeeding also protects you from health conditions like cervical cancer and Alzheimer’s.

Niacinamide:

It can also help to treat two types of skin conditions. The first condition is known as bullous pemphigoid (it results in rashes on the skin and blisters on the arms, legs as well as on the abdomen).

The second condition is known as granuloma (it results in red colored rashes that may turn into ring shapes and are usually seen on the feet and hands).

Both Niacin And Niacinamide:

Together, both niacin and niacinamide help treat various types of conditions.

The two forms of vitamins together are used to treat schizophrenia as well as Alzheimer’s.

Niacin and niacinamide can together help to treat depression as well as edema, which is a condition in which there is excess water in the various cavities or the tissues in your body.

Either of the two types of vitamins are also used to treat acne, loss of memory, reduce headaches that are caused due to premenstrual syndrome, keep blood pressure in check as well as help relax and reduce stress.

5. Vitamin B6 Or Pyridoxine:

Vitamin B6 or pyridoxine is another water-soluble vitamin that mixes in water and leaves your body when you urinate. To prevent a vitamin B6 deficiency, keep taking some supplements or natural food sources of Vitamin B6 regularly (6).

6. Vitamin B12 Or Cobalamin:

Vitamin B12 or cobalamin is a water-soluble vitamin. Once your body has made use of the vitamin, it gets dissolved in the water and leaves your body in the form of urine. You have to regularly replenish the reserves of vitamin B12 in your body by eating natural food sources or supplements that contain the same, in order to prevent its deficiency. However, your body can store some amount of vitamin B12 for a long time in your liver (7).

Just as the other vitamins in the B category, Vitamin B12 is also very important for your metabolism.

It helps to make red blood cells and also helps to maintain the health and proper functioning of your central nervous system.

8. Vitamin C:

Vitamin C is one of the most effective types of nutrients that you can have (9).

Taking vitamin C regularly will help to prevent any damage to the different cells in your body.

It will also help to reduce your risk of getting certain types of cancers, as well as reduce your chances of getting affected with heart disease and various other diseases.

Having enough vitamin C in your diet will make your healing process get faster, including various wounds and cuts. It will also help you bounce back to health especially after your body has been through the wear and tear of pregnancy and childbirth.

Vitamin C is also very important for maintaining the good health of your gums. It also helps to maintain the health of your immune system that protects you against various diseases.

When you have the required amount of vitamin C in your body, it will help your body to absorb iron from the various food sources that are rich in it.

9. Vitamin A Or Retinol:

Vitamin A is found in two different forms in different food sources. It occurs as preformed vitamin A or provitamin A. It is not water soluble vitamin but is a fat-soluble one, which means that it gets stored in the fatty tissues of your body. It is also known as retinol (10).

Vitamin A helps to keep your skin and soft tissues healthy. It also helps to keep various parts of your system in good health and helps them function properly, including the tissues in your skeleton, your teeth as well as your mucous membranes.

Vitamin A also helps to produce the pigments that are present in the retina of your eyes. Hence, it is also known as retinol.

Including vitamin A during breastfeeding in your diet will also improve the health of your vision, and it will help you see better not just during the day but also in the night or other times when there are poor light and visibility.

Provitamin A is found in various plant-based food sources such as various vegetables and fruits such as cantaloupe, apricots, winter squash, pink grapefruit, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, spinach, broccoli.

10. Vitamin D:

Vitamin D is also a type of fat-soluble vitamin that gets stored in the various fatty tissues in your body. While vitamin D is naturally found in various food sources as well as fortified food items, the most natural source of vitamin D is sunlight (11).

Vitamin D helps your gut absorb calcium from other food sources. It also helps to maintain the required balance of serum calcium as well as phosphate in your body. Both calcium and phosphate help to make your bones form the way they should and also help to maintain their health. These minerals, calcium, and phosphorus, are also important for maintaining proper bone and tissue health.

It helps to reduce inflammation in your body and is also important to maintain the good health of your immune system.

D vitamins for breastfeeding mom also indirectly helps to maintain the health of your teeth and protects you against various infections and diseases.

11. Vitamin E:

Vitamin E is yet another vitamin that is fat soluble, which means that it gets stored in the many fatty tissues in your body (12).

Vitamin E is a type of antioxidant that helps to protect the tissues in your body from damage from the substances that are known as free radicals. The free radicals usually cause damage to your various organs, tissues as well as cells.

Vitamin E helps to maintain the health of your immune system and keeps it protected against any attack from bacteria or viruses.

It also helps to form the red blood cells as well as helps your body to use the vitamin K that it absorbs from other food sources.

The vitamin E that is present in your body helps to make your blood vessels wider and prevents the blood inside them against clotting.

Vitamin E is also needed by the cells in your body to work with each other, which helps them do the work they are supposed to do.

Add the butter in a pan and heat it just a little bit. Add the mushrooms and keep sautéing till they turn tender.

Next, add all the remaining ingredients and cook them on low heat. Make sure to keep stirring so that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan. Keep cooking till the mushrooms are completely tender.

3. Beet, Spinach And Cheese Sandwich:

Image: Shutterstock

You Will Need:

4 small beets

2 tbsp. of olive oil

2 bunches of trimmed spinach

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper as per taste

4 ounces of cheese

¼thcup of chopped raisins

4 split whole wheat rolls

How To:

Heat your oven to 450 degrees F.

Wrap the beets in an aluminum sheet foil and bake till they can be easily pierced using a knife.

Let the beets cool and remove the skin with the help of paper towels. Once the skins are peeled, slice the beets into thin slices.

In a big pan, heat the oil and add the spinach. Add the salt and pepper and keep cooking and tossing. Make sure to keep doing this till all the spinach turns wilted. Once the spinach is ready, add the vinegar.

In the meanwhile, take a small bowl and add the cheese, the chopped raisins and about 1/4thtsp of pepper. Mix it all together.

Take the sliced beets and the cooked spinach and place it on the whole wheat rolls. Top it up with the cheese mix you prepared.

4. Roasted Cheesy Sweet Potatoes:

Image: Shutterstock

You Will Need:

4 small lengthwise halved sweet potatoes

2 tbsp. of olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper as per taste

¾thcup of grated cheese

How To:

Heat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Rub oil and the salt and pepper on the potatoes. Bake them with the cut side facing downwards till they turn golden.

Turn them over so that you can broil the potatoes. Add the cheese on top and broil them until the cheese melts and turns golden brown.

Vitamins are extremely important for your overall well-being, and are also important for your breastfeeding baby’s health. Your baby will also benefit from your body’s vitamin reserves as you breastfeed her. Ask your doctor about the vitamins to take while breastfeeding and if you need to take any special vitamin supplements.

What vitamins did you take while you were breastfeeding? Did your doctor ask you to take any special vitamin supplements, or did she just ask you to include some vitamin-rich foods in your diet? How did you go about it? Tell us about your experiences here. Leave a comment below.